


roses and aftershave

by stephcass (bisexualrey)



Series: on a bed of roses [2]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Artemis-centric, Bipolar Disorder, F/F, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, also i'm gonna keep adding characters/relationships when they come up, me ? having a plot ? its more likely than you think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 16:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11361204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualrey/pseuds/stephcass
Summary: “I love you too,” Zatanna laughs into Artemis’s neck, and suddenly it feels just like old times. She gets that copper taste in her mouth, wonders why nostalgia has to be so painful. She looks into Zatanna’s eyes, wonders if maybe they can paint the bedroom that color. Peacock blue, she thinks.





	roses and aftershave

**Author's Note:**

> this is a sequel to my other fic "artemis crock falls in love (a lot)" and theoretically could be read without it but there's a lot of plot stuff that would make more sense if you checked it out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first week, the only items in their new apartment are a dingey, stainless steel tea kettle, two sleeping bag zipped together, and a box of stale mini-wheats they’ve been eating dry.

For the first week, the only items in their new apartment are a dingey, stainless steel tea kettle, two sleeping bag zipped together, and a box of stale mini-wheats they’ve been eating dry. The tea kettle was courtesy of Wally and Dick in response to Artemis’s long-running habit of boiling water in the microwave (“it’s like so beyond wrong, you know that right?”), and the sleeping bags were found in Paula’s somewhat nostalgic collection of objects from Artemis’s childhood. Mini-wheats are the only thing Zatanna feels like eating, which the doctor said was pretty normal with her need for routine and all, and honestly, it takes Artemis a while to get sick of things.  

Daphne is staying with M’gann for the week while Artemis and Zatanna are _theoretically_ out shopping/scrounging around some more for furniture for their new place; the truth is (don’t tell Jade, or M’gann, or Dick), they haven’t left the house all that much except to buy wine and browse pet shops despite no need for another animal in the house.

 

On the eighth day, Zatanna sits on the kitchen floor drinking said wine while Artemis stands on the somehow-already-stained counters trying to reach all the corners with a paintbrush. It’s the most productive they’ve been all week, shopping at Home Depot for wall paint and deciding on what the lady working there called, “a pale balsam,” which basically just means green, only Zatanna said it was just grey enough to match the color of Artemis’s eyes. Artemis rolled aforementioned eyes, calling her cheesy but nevertheless, she is now in the process of straining all the muscles in her arm to paint the walls balsam.

Zatanna twirls the cheap Merlot in one hand, watching the red lap against the glass in soft waves, “I’d offer to help but…”

“You’re totally useless without magic,” Artemis finishes, grinning slyly. Zatanna smiles back: she’s the only person that doesn’t tiptoe around the whole magic thing like it’ll totally set her off. When you’ve just come back from the dead (figuratively and somewhat literally), it’s nice to be treated like an actually functioning human being. Well, semi-functioning.

“Not useless! I’m cute and fashionable and I could still kick your ass any day of the week.”

“Oh, is that so? Try me!”

“No,” Zatanna lies her head against the cabinets with tipsy resignation, “you’d like it too much.”

Artemis pauses, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and gazing down in amusement, “sometimes I wish you didn’t know me so well.”

“Come on,” Zatanna draws out the words in a quiet whine, “sit with me!”

“How many glasses have you had?”

“Two.”

“ _Liar_.”

“Alright _three_ ,” ignoring Artemis’s scoff, she stands up and offers her girlfriend a hand. It takes her a moment to accept it, swinging her legs around Zatanna’s waist with her arms wrapped around her neck. Their kiss is soft and lingers somewhere under the bitter odor of wine and paint fumes.

Neither of them can tell how long they’ve been standing there, kissing, Zatanna’s lips finding their way down Artemis’s neck, when they hear a knock at the door. It takes Artemis a moment to detach herself, walk down the hall slowly.

“It’s your favorite speedster,” Wally calls through the door, banging some more.

She sighs, opens it, mutters, “Bart is my favorite, but yeah, go ahead and flatter yourself,” to which he smirks and wedges his way in.

He eyes the half-painted wall, the wine glasses, and Artemis. “So I can see you guys are being productive.”

Artemis crosses her arms and narrows her eyes, “of course.”

“Nice hickey,” he’s grinning.

Zatanna clears her throat, “can we help you, Wally?”

“I’m hear to help you, actually.”

“Lucky us.”

“Dick said you guys haven’t finished unpacking-”

“How the fuck does he know?” Artemis scoffs. “I mean he’s _right_ but still.”

“He’s Batman’s kid,” Wally answers, like that makes any sense. “And he knows you.” His eyes are trained on Artemis in that observant way. She pauses, unsure how to respond. Zatanna still doesn’t know about all that stuff, about Dick and her’s relationship when she was gone, and now doesn’t seem like the time to bring it up. (Never would work too).

Zatanna doesn’t seem to notice their interaction, continuing with, “and I suppose you want to help?”

“Helpful is my middle name after all.”

Artemis decides this doesn’t elicit an eye roll.

“Well we don’t really _have_ anything to unpack,” Zatanna points out, crossing her arms.

“So I could help with that too.”

“Wally. That’s nice and all, but really we got it.”

“You _so_ do not. But I get it,” Wally looks more serious for a moment. “We just want to make sure…” Wally’s tone shifts, “you know, that you’re taking care of yourselves. You don’t always have the best track-record for that, Art.”

“Thanks and all, but we’re _fine_ ,” Artemis feels that anger rising, the one that’s unjustified. That coats the back of her throat and makes her feel wrong. “Maybe you should go.” She can feel the way Zatanna turns her head, confused but quiet enough about it that Artemis only notices because she knows her.

“Okay, okay.” Wally sighs, taking a step back in defeat, “I can leave.”

Artemis nods, wonders briefly why everything’s so abrupt. When the door shuts again, and it’s just the two of them--messy and covered in paint and alone--Zatanna moves to brush blonde hair out of Artemis’s eyes.

“Seriously, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she stiffens, “why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. I know I missed a lot so maybe I’m not getting it but-”

“I’m good, babe.”

Zatanna seems a little skeptical but nods, “okay.”

“I love you, you know that? I know I’m not the best at expressing emotions sometimes but-”

“I love you too,” Zatanna laughs into Artemis’s neck, and suddenly it feels just like old times. She gets that copper taste in her mouth, wonders why nostalgia has to be so painful. She looks into Zatanna’s eyes, wonders if maybe they can paint the bedroom that color. Peacock blue, she thinks.

**Author's Note:**

> also shout out to my friend aurora for beta'ing this!!


End file.
